Locking devices are known that comprise a box, a latch in the form of a hook that is cantilevered out from a tilt axis carried by said box, and a retractable locking member for opposing tilting movements of the hook while the hook is loaded.
Such a locking device is used, in particular, for locking a door or a shutter in the closed position.
There exist certain applications in which locking must present maximum safety in order to withstand a failure of the locking device with a maximum amount of safety: this applies in particular to locking the thrust-reversing flaps of aircraft jets. In that particular case, a failure of the locking device, e.g. by the hook and/or its tilt axis breaking, would have extremely severe consequences: untimely opening of the thrust-reversing flaps in flight or while landing before actually running on the ground, would give rise to a breaking jolt that could lead to total loss of control of the aircraft, thereby causing the aircraft to crash.
An object of the invention is to provide a locking device providing a very high level of safety, in particular in the event of failure of the tilting hook latch.
Another object of the invention is to provide a locking device whose structure is simple and compact, in particular so as to enable it to be used for locking the thrust-reversing flaps of aircraft jets.